Games Inbox: XCOM deaths, Dishonored mercy, and Resident Evil

Today’s morning Inbox is filled with love for Dishonored and XCOM: Enemy Unknown, as well as a few late arriving complaints about Resident Evil 6. To add your own comments email us at
gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown – honour the dead

The life and death of Mike MasonI pre-ordered XCOM and Dishonored (PC) from ShopTo at £52.70 for the pair and am very much enjoying them both. XCOM is game of the year for me without a doubt. Let me tell you a little bit about why. Let me tell you about Mike Mason.Nicknamed ‘Hitman’ because of his bald head and love of sniper rifles, Lieutenant Mike Mason had climbed the ranks since the early missions. He had earned the reputation as one of the most dependable members of the team. Perhaps he wasn’t the most charismatic or eccentric, but he had been there from the beginning and he instilled a sense of calm and stability.Yet, with our team pinned down by a pack of angry Mutons with laser beams, there he lay face down in the dirt just metres away. ‘Not Mike,’ I muttered in disbelief. It was a crushing sight, made all the more harrowing having to fight back with his blood-soaked body in full view. Then there was the rookie who also got himself killed in a careless act of vengeance. All because Mike had taken that momentary decision to crouch behind a car instead of a concrete column. Dependable Mike.As commander of that XCOM squad, I still sometimes visit the memorial screen to pay my respects. It’s not all doom and gloom, however. Mike’s understudy, Texas ‘The Shadow’ Jones, has proved himself very useful in combat, and seems to have put that tragic day behind him. He still fights bravely on in the name of his mentor and father figure, but is only too aware of the dangers he faces each time he steps out onto the field. Hang in there, Tex. Through you the spirit of Mike’s legacy lives on (sorry).RIP Mike ‘Hitman’ Mason.evilsee (PSN ID)/evilsee2 (Steam ID)Mindful killerI wanted to share my story of an event that occurred in Dishonored. I was creeping through a house, and was just about to jump down from the ceiling and assassinate a guard. Then just as I was about to do it, the maid appeared, and the two of them discussed how their lives would be so much better when they’re married. This stopped me in my tracks, it made pause and reflect on what I was about to do to the poor guard, how he was just trying to make a few coins to get by in his difficult life. He had a family who cared about him, and would miss him when he’s gone. So I let them live (though I did put them both in a choke hold, hope there’s no brain damage).It’s very rare a game is of such quality in areas such as voice-acting and script, that you care about any character, let alone a lowly guard. So now I only kill people who I judge to be evil. Dishonored is now my favourite stealth ‘em-up. It’s the game I always wanted Thief to be. I hope it’s a success and we get more from this game world.EvilMoomin (Steam ID)PS: People were wondering what this runs like on the PC. I have a fairly modest PC that can barely run Alan Wake . But Dishonored runs at 1080p, with everything turned to the highest settings, perfectly. A very well programmed game.Whale oil be blowedI’d just like to add my two penn’orth about Dishonored. The blubberpunk setting is extremely well realised, with Dunwall clearly influenced by Kevin O’Neill’s artwork in Alan Moore ‘s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, with oversized wharfs, cranes and boats similar to Nemo’s Nautilus. There’s also nods to the parallel world of Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy.The in-game documentation in game is fascinating, detailed and extremely well written, helping to construct a believable and entertaining fictional world. I haven’t progressed that far as yet but the gameplay is fluid and features a mechanic that should have been included in games for years; namely the ability to climb on and over low height obstacles easily. Dishonored is a welcome breath of fresh air and an excellent aperitif for BioShock Infinite in the New Year. That is all. I read you every day.Dr GargunzaGC:That’s a great headline by the way, we’re going to pretend we made that one up ourselves.

Bargain, and game, of the yearThank you for your excellent review of XCOM: Enemy Unknown. This was my most anticipated game of 2012, and I was so happy to read your very positive review of it. I agree with your view that this is the single most important game of 2012 for traditional gamers. I hope it is a huge commercial success, and leads to the revitalising of the strategy genre.I’ve voted with my wallet and bought it, and would implore all other non-casual gamers to do likewise. I bought the PC version, and would like to suggest a great deal for fellow GCers. Buy it from Green Man Gaming via the TopCashBack site, and also use the offer code GMG20-FXYD1-7WHP1You will end up getting a Steam download code for the game, and will get the game for a bargain £21.79 (instead of the £30 normal Steam price). How can you resist?KhalsaBlade (gamertag)/Akali (PSN ID)/Blade (Steam ID)The day I diedI bought both XCOM and Dishonored at the weekend and wow both are great. But to be honest XCOM for me personally is the better and I have become hopelessly addicted to it. David Jenkins was killed yesterday a veteran of 41 kills and 12 missions, a crack sniper his devotion to duty will be missed. That and his pink combat gear.XCOM is my favourite game of this generation, it is exactly perfect for me. It got me thinking a PS Vita version would be perfect, turn-based, easy to pick up and play for short missions, touch controls would work well, just ideal and I would buy it.It is one game that’s not getting traded. On a sadder note looking in my local supermarket they had Dishonored but not one copy of XCOM, which worries me as I doubt it is because they sold out.Iankat 14 (PSN ID)PS: Plankton 1975 and Perksurx your XCOM soldiers still live!Perfect localeEnjoying Dishonored so far, I must say the swordplay is very satisfying, the art style of the characters reminds me of TimeSplitters which brings back fond memories. Just one point, the sewer level, loads of games seem to have them, is there an unwritten rule amongst developers that all games must flush you down the drain at some point?I wager sewers rival warehouses as the most prevalent locale in gaming history, which is weird because neither of the aforementioned places are fun to frequent. I speak from experience as I work in a warehouse 40 hours a week, I play games for escapism so please Dishonored don’t take me on a busman’s holiday next.Ideal locations for moi would be a beautiful desert island (looking forward to Far Cry 3) or a circus, or the Great Court in the British Museum which is well worth a visit in real life. I’d like to know other readers ideal game level locations, and if they’ve been realised in games.MSVPS: Is it only me that thinks the manual for Dishonored smells of macaroons?GC:Warehouses and sewers are both brown and miserable looking, it’s no wonder there are so many in games.Cold TopicApologies for missing the Hot Topic but I am 16 hours into Resident Evil 6, I have been playing a chapter of each character’s campaign in order of the timeline which can be worked out by going to Special Features and then Cut Scenes at the main menu, and I must say I have loved every minute of it. Each campaign plays so differently it is like three full games set around the same sequence of events and playing this way is the best way to experience the story.OK, it is full-on action and cinematic spectacle but it is one hell of a thrill ride! Alas, I think it is time that Capcom move on and make this the last Resi though. I think the problem is that it’s gone long enough and there’s nothing more they can do now with the Resi universe. So no Resident Evil 7 please. That doesn’t make Resident Evil 6 a bad game or any less enjoyable but it is far removed from the original games.I think one of the readers hit the nail on the head when he said that the fact bioterror is now on a global scale and not just about a few survivors being trapped in an mansion/ruined city/small Spanish village full of zombies takes away the atmosphere and what’s left is just pure action which is more akin to Gears Of War like many people have said.Big Angry Dad82 (gamertag)Mikami will save usContrary to my slating of the demo of Resident Evil 6 a while back, It has been very painful to see all of the damning reports and rock bottom scores the game has garnered. Resident Evil used to engender a unique and unusual style, even Resident Evil 4’s seminal overhaul was unlike anything else on the market at the time. So it saddens me that Resident Evil 6 tries desperately to be like everything else but itself. Subsequently devolving into the same brain dead creature that previously betrayed the zombies in the original games.I don’t wish to condone Capcom’s practices with the franchise, yet I confess I love the games’ mythology. That’s why I see fit to purchase the game when the price arrives at the ten to fifteen pounds mark. That way I would feasibly be paying for the only part of the game with any semblance, however small, of the original’s brooding atmosphere in Leon’s and possibly Ada’s campaign.As for Resident Evil 7, I’m not holding my breath for a return to form, especially becauseResi 6 is already bulldozing the record sales of Resi 5 in Japan, so it might be a case of corporate greed from here on. But I take solace in Mr Mikami’s project Zwei’s latent promise to help the horror survive.Galvanized Gamer

Thank you SidI just had to write in to say how engrossed I am in XCOM: Enemy Unknown since I got it. What an amazing game! I’m tempted to say, ‘They don’t make games like this anymore’, but well, they clearly have. But then I could say that a) It’s about time and b) why is there not more games, not only like this but deeper games in general on console? Games companies seem to have the impression that all of us console gamers have at some point in time have had a lobotomy and are therefore unable to understand and comprehend something with a bit more depth and long term investment. For many of us though, that couldn’t be further from the truth. I don’t just see a lack of imagination, but a lack of variety of game genres.XCOM has got me thinking. Why can’t there be more games like this? And more importantly, why isn’t there!? Developers seem to think the default way to go is the first or third person shooter route, but imagine a Gears Of War, Halo or any number of franchises or war/combat games as a turn-based combat game with management aspects. It doesn’t need to be turn-based even, but just something out of the box – something atypical.This is something I’ll be contemplating while I’m having the most engrossing gaming time I’ve had for almost as long as I can remember while I play XCOM on my Xbox 360. Firaxis Games, you have my thanks and genuine gratitude, not only for making this game and not treating us like idiots, but for putting so much love and attention to detail in it. It truly is a masterpiece. Also to 2K Games for green-lighting it and publishing it.Spartas EdgePS: I’m loving the Forward Unto Dawn series in the build-up to Halo 4. Microsoft spent $10 million making it, so it would be rude to not give it a look.

Note to selfIf there is one thing that doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon it is the way developers try to add depth to the gaming worlds that they create by having characters leaving notes, diaries and sound files in various different forms all over the place, it’s not that I hate them as such but, well it’s a bit lazy isn’t it?I know most of the time they are just there to read them at your leisure and are not integral to mission progress but whenever I walk past a flashing note on a desk thinking it will not be of any use I then find myself stopping and going back only for it to be a copy of one that I read in a room a few hours back. Dishonoured although a great game is guilty of these crimes, I am enjoying the game but find that when I am in the stealth zone and flowing I am constantly interrupted by the constant need to read books, notes and hear audio files. Obviously being a gamer I like to moan but of course I have no solution to this problem.NOZInbox also-ransNow that Epic Mickey 2 is coming to Xbox 360 is there any chance we will be getting old Disney games e.g. Castle Of Illusion, Aladdin, etc. on Xbox Live Arcade?The Conkster (gamertag)GC:Perhaps, although the fact that they never have might suggest the licensing is more complex than it appears. 3DS game Epic Mickey: Power Of Illusion is heavily influenced by Castle Of Illusion, so we suspect they’ll want to focus on that for now.I was wondering if you knew whether the Mass Effect 3 downloadable content will be on the Wii U version when it’s released?Zxalpha64GC:From Ashes and the Extended Cut are on the disc, it’s been implied the other content will be made available, but we’re not aware that BioWare has ever confirmed it.This week’s Hot TopicThe subject for this weekend’s Inbox was inspired by reader Terror4mer, who asks what’s the best intro to a game you’ve ever experienced?What’s the most impressive opening 10 minutes you’ve seen in a game, whether it’s a non-interactive movie, actual gameplay or a mixture of the two. What was it about the opening that particularly impressed you and how important do you think the opening sequence is to a game?Do you get frustrated when a game takes too long to get to the gameplay and how long are you willing to wait until you actually play something (bearing in mind tutorials as well)? How important is presentation, music, and other non-gameplay factors in establishing an intriguing intro? And how easily put off are you, if a game doesn’t get more interesting until later?

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